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As part of our Simons Lecture series, we are honored to be hosting architect Robert Stern and president of the National Trust of Historic Preservation, Stephanie Meeks for two engaging and exciting lecture. Details are as follows:

Stephanie Meeks, President, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Lecture Title– To Be Announced
Thursday, April 7, 2016 @ 7:00 PM

Stephanie Meeks has been the president and chief executive officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation since July 2010. Under her leadership, the National Trust has developed an ambitious strategic plan designed to refocus direct action on saving imperiled places, engage new audiences in preservation, and increase the organization’s impact by a factor of ten.
http://www.preservationnation.org/

Robert A.M. Stern is a practicing architect, teacher, and writer. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and received the AIA New York Chapter’s Medal of Honor in 1984 and the Chapter’s President’s Award in 2001. Mr. Stern is the 2011 Driehaus Prize laureate and in 2008 received the tenth Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum. In 2007, he received both the Athena Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Board of Directors’ Honor from the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America. As founder and Senior Partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, he personally directs the design of each of the firm’s projects.
http://www.ramsa.com/en/people/robert-a-m-stern.html

We are excited to announce a new page here on the Historic Preservation and Community Planning blog that showcases our impressive current students and alumni. Our goal is to post an update to the page at least once a month to share events, initiatives, new employment, promotions, internships, and exhibits from our department. Please check the new page regularly, and to read about our first alumnus in the spot light, Elaina Gyure!

Recent alum Elaina Gyure, a double major in historic preservation and history at the College of Charleston, has been very busy since her graduation last year, and we are proud to showcase her endeavors on our new Student and Alumni page!
Elaina is working on a master’s degree in Museum Studies through the University of Leicester remotely while creating some interesting new exhibits in her home state of Florida. Below are a few photos she shared with us from her premier installation at the Southwestern Florida Museum of History, which opened this week. The SWFL Museum of History is located in Fort Myers, FL, for anyone who is in the area and would like to see Elaina’s display.
We look forward to posting more in the future about alums and students like Elaina who continue to be the pride of the Preservation department!

Friends and alumni in the vicinity of Augusta, GA will want to attend Dr. Barry Stiefel’s upcoming presentation on October 22 entitled “The Other House Museum: places of worship and the case of synagogues”. The lecture is part of a grant funded series of architectural history lectures hosted by the Porter Fleming Foundation and Historic Augusta Incorporation. Dr. Stiefel will discuss religious spaces, and synagogues in particular, as oft-overlooked museums that can educate the public about under represented minority groups and cultural experiences. We hope Prof. Stiefel will respect the lecture for a Charleston audience!

Fall semester has commenced and the faculty and staff are getting back into the busy swing of things, and that includes several upcoming architectural history and preservation oriented Simons lectures. You won’t want to miss the following great programs, which are free and open to the public. Don’t forget, you can view the event locations and times on the google calendar page of the blog as well:

September 10 in Room 309 of the Simons Center for the Arts
“The Construction and Restoration of the Johnston- Felton- Hay House, 1855 to the Present.”
Jonathan Poston, Senior Director of Properties for the Georgia Trust and Director of the Hay House

September 24 in Room 309 of the Simons Center for the Arts
Of Phones and Drones: New Ways and Old Buildings in the Northeast
Annebelle Radcliffe-Trenner AIA RIBA LEED, President of Historic Building Architects, Trenton, NJ

October 15 in Room 227 of the Addlestone Library with an associated exhibit on the 2nd Floor
Three Perspectives of Hobcaw Barony Plantation near Georgetown, SC
College of Charleston Professors Ralph Muldrow, James L. Ward, Barry Stiefel

November 5 in Room 309 of the Simons Center for the Arts
Palladio in Italy and America: the Best Architect Ever?
Duncan Stroik, AIA, President, Duncan Stroik Architects and Professor of Architecture at Notre Dame

This past week, interns and faculty had the opportunity to assist archaeologists and historians from the community with ground penetrating radar exploration in the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon on East Bay Street. The circa 1771 building sits atop earlier fortifications and building foundations. The group hoped to find the size and location of the watch house, constructed between 1699 and 1703. Scott Harris from the College of Charleston’s geology department generously donated his time and equipment. Dr. Nic Butler of the Mayor’s Walled City Task Force, Tony Youmans of the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, Martha Zeirden from the Charleston Museum, and C of C faculty members Dr. Grant Gilmore and Dr. Barry Stiefel participated. Details will be forthcoming after the Scott’s lab and interns have a chance to process the data.

Courtesy of the department facebook page: Today a group of HPCP students got to see the community planning aspect of the major in action! Andres Duany, one of the leaders of the New Urbanism movement, took them on a tour of I’on in Mt. Pleasant. Seeing firsthand how a Traditional Neighborhood Development is designed and functions was an unforgettable learning experience. Many thanks to Dr. Nathaniel Walker of the Art History Department and Mr. Duany for making this happen!

Students, faculty, and even a few parents who were in town visiting turned out this afternoon at 12 Bull for an oyster roast and book release party. Jim Ward and Dr. Ofunniyin who are teaching a Preserving Gullah Graveyard Traditions elective course this spring brought some fantastic Gullah inspired dishes to share, and Dr. Gilmore brought a Caribbean standby for the group to try- salted fish with plantains! As everyone feasted, they also celebrated some of Dr. Stiefel’s latest publications, most notably a compilation of student senior papers that were published in a peer reviewed book, What is Your Heritage and the State of its Preservation?: Essays on Family History Exploration from the Field.

Delicious oysters from Beaufort, SC, fresh out of the steamer.

Students and faculty enjoy a beautiful spring day in the back yard at 12 Bull.

It may have been one of the coldest days of the winter so far, but that didn’t prevent Prof. Butler’s project management class from enjoying their site visit to 329 East Bay Street this past Thursday. Tim Sites, project manager for Luxury Simplified Group’s largest current renovation project, was kind enough to let the students tour the house from the ground up. He explained the budget and timeline for the project, introduced the group to several gifted carpenters and tradsemen on site, and gave everyone a chance for some Q and A about his role as project manager for Luxury Simplified, who plans to renovate the house for event and office space. Tim explained that the company is going out of their way to salvage and repair as much as possible, and they’ve already removed several unsympathetic recent alterations to the three story early nineteenth century masonry building, better known as the Gadsden House. Here’s a few pictures of the students enjoying the field trip:

The front facade of the Gadsden House.

Heading into the raised basement.

John Key Powell illuminates some interesting joinery in the basement so Butler could snap a picture.

Tim begins the tour on the full length piazza.

An original panel door from inside.

Several layers of paint over the original color scheme.

More trim awaiting repairs.

A piece of wainscote paneling, with roman numerals so the original carpenters could join their hand cut rails and stiles into the proper configuration.

Emily Whisenant and Claire check out a wood and composite multiple layer piece of crown molding removed for restoration.

Historic Charleston Foundation, who hold easements for the house, have placed a plaque with the circa construction date on the front of the house.

Please join us this Monday evening at 7 p.m. in Simons Center 309, where Dr. Mariana Esponda of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada will present a lecture entitled, “The Power of Heritage: Design + Technology + Cultural Values.”

Mariana Esponda is an Associate Professor in the Azrieli School of Architecture, Carleton University, and the coordinator of the Architectural Conservation and Sustainability program since 2008. Dr. Esponda has been working on heritage buildings, in both the private and public sector, for the last 15 years in North America and Spain to fully understand historical constructions and to allow a new life through contemporary use. Her projects include restoration on modernism historical facades, adaptive reuse on churches and monasteries, conditional assessment and rehabilitation on existing structures.
The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dr. Gilmore is teaching this semester’s senior paper course, where the theme is “Religious Landscapes of the Lowcountry”. This week the group headed out to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Ashley River Road and then to the Old Sheldon Church Ruins in Yemassee.
Here is “group van selfie” from the field trip: